Alternates vs. Qualified Projects at the California State Science Fair

I've been named an "alternate" project from my county fair. Should I submit an application now, or wait?

Submit it now. All applications from a particular affiliated fair must be submitted by that fair's Submission Deadline. If you wait until after that date, you will not be accepted.

When will I know if I've been accepted?

At the latest, projects which are not accepted will be notified by the day after the Project Abstract Review Committee (PARC) has read all Project Summaries. This date is given in the Application Packet. Important: You must have provided us with a valid email address at which you may be reached. If not, notification will be delayed. In cases where the number of projects applying from a particular fair are greatly in excess of that fair's allocation, CSSF will attempt to notify projects which are identified as lowest on the alternates list earlier than this date.

Projects which are accepted will not be directly notified at this time. However, as soon as possible after PARC, we will post the names of all accepted students on our Web site, and will shortly thereafter post category assignments for all projects in the Fair there as well.

What happens to my application fee?

If your application is not accepted because your fair's allocation has been filled by projects higher up on your fair's qualification list, then we will refund your application fee.